


Just a Jump to the Left

by captainmistyknight (ayna222)



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, Kinda, M/M, Time Shenanigans, cheesy proposals, idk it's just really flippin fluffy, mirror of erised is involved, some aliens are involved, some really minor Steve/Peggy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-07 15:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15222323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayna222/pseuds/captainmistyknight
Summary: “Well, well, well! If it isn’t the man out of time. Are you prepared to be eliminated from the current timeline?” Ugh, Kang. It was too early for this."Kang gives Steve the chance to hop back into the past right where he left off, no strings attached. Tony doesn't like that at all. Steve figures out when he's meant to be, in the end.





	Just a Jump to the Left

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Neverever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/gifts).



There was nothing quite like waking up to the sharp scent of coffee in the pot and the sizzling of bacon in the pan, but more often than not the Avengers Tower wake-up call was ten times more strange and two hundred times more dangerous. 

Something like an army teleporting into the middle of Time’s Square, for example. 

Steve resisted the urge to groan and cover his head with his pillow as the sirens blared through his room. He’d been enjoying the opportunity to sleep in, so to speak (though the chance at getting up at six AM certainly wouldn’t appeal to anyone else), but he suspected that the world was deliberately trying to make this life miserable this week, so of course he was never going to get the chance to rest past four. 

He tried (unsuccessfully) rubbing the remaining sleepiness from his eyes as he asked JARVIS to turn on his favorite local news station—as much as Tony wanted to get him fully “modernized,” he still tried to get the news from a paper or radio station as often as he could. It was comforting, and on mornings like this he needed the familiarity to stave off the distracting sense of awe (and though he’d be hard pressed to say it, mild fear) that still overwhelmed him from time to time in the new and daunting future he’d been forced to call home. 

_“This just in, the beings are armed, I repeat, they are armed! Reports indicate that the weapons they’re using vaporize their victims. Please, if you’re hearing this, stay in your homes until the coast has been declared clear by the Avengers!”_ Shit. Steve nearly ripped his suit as he pulled it on as quickly as he could, jumping into his boots and grabbing his shield as he ran out the door. He doubled back quickly, shot a quick salute at the wall of portraits he’d painted of his teammates, and ran back. The quick movement was his good luck charm, a way of reaffirming his connection to the people with whom he fought evil, of reminding himself that like it or not these were his teammates now, and he ought to have their backs. The fact that he did this while staring into portrait-Tony’s eyes more often than not nowadays was of little consequence.

The rest of the Avengers had already assembled by the time he arrived in the living room, though given the way Clint was huffing and puffing he couldn’t have been too late to the party. Tony looked up from where he was fiddling with some futuristic tech with a bright grin. “Alright, kids!” he announced, “grab your bags and tighten your seatbelts; let’s get this show on the road!” Clint groaned as the living room morphed seamlessly into the team quinjet.

“God, Tony, how can you be so chipper at four in the morning? Turn it down, I can’t deal with this”. Half hearted mumbles of assent came from everyone except Steve, who was too busy realizing with a blush that the only thing that made Tony this happy in the lab was working on stuff for him, which is what he must have been doing before this mission, and Thor, who was always dialed up to eleven and allergic to sleep. 

“So help me if you’re just going to complain the whole way I _will_ turn this quinjet around.” Tony gleefully retorted. “Now who wants to tell me what we’re dealing with? I paid the SHIELD briefing as much attention as it was worth, that is to say, none at all.”

“Something, something, army, something something, death ray” mumbled Sam sleepily. Natasha smirked.

“Close enough to be honest. Mysterious army pops up in the middle of Times Square, signature similar to the soldiers Kang the Conqueror, so we’re thinking time jumps again. The squadron is using what appear to be vaporizers to eliminate everyone standing in their way. So you know, Tuesday.” Tony laughed.

“Temporal shenanigans, part 27, and a small army with phasers set to kill. Sounds like a piece of cake to me!” Steve smiled gently at Tony.

Steve asked, “Phasers? You figured out what they called those energy weapons already? Is that what you were fiddling with earlier?”

“What? No! No, that was just some stuff for you, I’ll explain later, no, phasers are...you know what? Let’s put a pin in this and show you some Star Trek when we get back.” He made a popping noise with his mouth and mimed putting a thumbtack in a corkboard. “There! Pinned.” Steve wasn’t sure what to make of the faint flush on Tony’s face, or the smirk Nat was sending his way. He decided to deal with what he could.

“Sure, Tony, we can make a team movie night out of it.” He was probably imagining the disappointed look on Tony’s face. “For now, can we make a plan of attack for once? I don’t think I could handle seeing any of you vaporized.” The comment was meant to be flippant, but it came off a lot more seriously than Steve had intended. It was lucky no one but Tony had heard.

“Aw Cap, we love you too,” chuckled Tony with a wink. Steve’s stomach did a strange little flip-flop he hadn’t felt since he saw Peggy again over New Year’s a few months ago. Wait. Oh no…Steve mentally popped a pin in that thought too before he could have a full blown identity crisis. 

The quinjet reached Times Square in record time (the team scientists had done a great job revamping the engine), and the Avengers dropped swiftly and silently out of the hatch on the bottom as it hovered only a few yards off the ground near battle site.

“So did we ever figure out a plan?” asked Steve as they ran into the fray, dodging evacuating civilians and errant blasts from the villains’ guns. 

“GONNA GO WITH THE USUAL, AND _SMASH!_ ” cried Hulk enthusiastically as he slammed into a line of minions. Steve smirked.

“So we have a plan: attack.”

“Now you’re getting it! I know your brain is probably working more slowly than usual but try to keep up, old man!” shouted Tony from where he was blasting another group of minions. Steve ran up to the closest enemy squadron he could find and took them all out as efficiently as possible. He’d decided his goal was to figure out who had started this whole mess, and whether it was reasonable to hope that a blue, homicidal maniac hadn’t been the one to interrupt his sleep. Unfortunately for him, a familiar voice rang out across the crowd.

“Well, well, well! If it isn’t the man out of time. Are you prepared to be eliminated from the current timeline?” Ugh, _Kang_. It was too early for this.

“Yo, Kang! Stop harping on Cap all the time; you’re starting to make the rest of us feel unwanted!” yelled Clint from somewhere behind Steve.

“Ah, but it is only Captain America that matters to me, and in a few moments, only Captain America who matters at all.” replied Kang, as haughty and cryptic as always. Steve had barely a moment to process... _Kang_ before he pulled out a large, complicated looking ray gun thing. “Say goodbye to your futures, and hello to my reign!”

Kang pulled the trigger. A flash of white washed over Steve, and then there was nothing at all.  
__________________________________________________________________________

Steve Rogers, Captain of the Howling Commandos woke up on what appeared to be a battlefield in a land that had hopped out of one of the sci-fi serials he used to love to read before the war, which was kinda funny, since just a moment before he was crashing a plane into a remote region of the Arctic. He registered dimly that the current situation should have him tense and full of adrenaline, but for some reason all he could feel was an overwhelming sense of calm. He dragged himself slowly to a sitting position, rubbing his eyes as he took in his strange surroundings. 

“Where am I? What happened? Did we win the war?” he asked, not quite sure to whom he was directing the question to but feeling it was important to ask all the same. A few gasps rang out from various positions around him, and for an instant he felt he ought to look for where they came from, but that feeling of calm came back full force, bringing him back to his immediate surroundings. A blue skinned man in a strange uniform stepped forward into his line of sight. Steve was certain he’d usually have a bit more to say about that, but right now he was feeling too blissed out to care about much of anything.

“Captain, my name is Kang, and I am a citizen of the 21st century,” said the blue man. “As you may have noticed, you’ve been displaced from your proper place in time. I am here to help you return home.” Kang pushed a button on his belt and manifested a glowing purple portal next to him. Through it, Steve thought he could catch glimpses of the laughing faces of his unit, Howard’s rakish grin, and--

“As proof of my good intentions, allow me to show you the exact moment in which you will arrive, so that you are prepared for your journey.” The portal began to fade and blur into an iridescent rainbow of color and shapes. Steve felt for a moment he ought to comment on the fact that Kang had practically made his decision for him, but the minute the portal regained focus all thoughts fell out of his brain, replaced by a running mantra of _Peggy, Peggy, it’s her it’s her it’s Peggy_.

Sure enough, the portal had materialized an image of Peggy Carter, the woman Steve was half sure was the only one for him. She was absolutely _radiant_ in her indignation as she tore an unsuspecting low-ranking officer a new one. Steve smiled gently at the sight. Good old Peggy, always making sure to be heard, not seen. He heard from her recently, but he still ached to hear her voice.

“Go to her, captain, she’s waiting.” The illogic of the statement didn’t register as Steve walked slowly towards the portal. The closer he got, the sharper Peggy’s image became, even as the rest of the world faded away around him. He was a foot away now, and Peggy was turning towards him, righteous expression giving way to a bright grin. She opened her mouth to speak, Steve stepped closer to hear--

“Steve, _wait!_ ” came a man’s voice from somewhere off to the left. Suddenly, it seemed as though the world was in full color once more. The battle raged fiercely around Steve, and he resisted the urge to grab his shield and join in, if only to turn to the man who’d shouted and ask.

“Who are you?” the man visibly paled and winced at that, though Steve noted he tried to hide his reaction.

“My name is Tony. Tony Stark. You knew my father, Cap, and you know me now too, cause we’re friends, kinda, I think? I hope. Anyway, don’t listen to Kang! He’s trying to trick you into destroying yourself, something about a lost timeline, lost empire, to be quite honest I’ve been classically conditioned into tuning him out every time he starts to speak. Kang makes an indignant noise from where he had been left, ignored, but Steve honestly could not think of anything less interesting at the moment.

“You called me by my name earlier. You said we’re friends?” As far as he knew, not many people were privy to his civilian identity.

“Yes, Cap, _Steve_ . Sure we had a rough start after you got pulled out of the ice, but we’ve been--”

“Stay out of this, Iron Man!” interrupted Kang. “We have no use for your trickery here! Come, captain, let us move forward, or should I say, move back.” Steve looked back towards the portal, towards _Peggy_ , and took a step forward. 

“Steve, _please_ , you know us!” Tony gestured at what must have been the rest of his team, who were still fighting around them. _Still?_

“Captain, we must make haste!” insisted Kang. Steve paused in his tracks, head in his hands. Something felt off about this whole situation, but he didn’t have the info he needed to figure out what exactly the missing piece was. 

“You know _me!_ ” continued Tony. He looked to be near tears. “Please, Cap, Kang might be trying to get you back to your old time, but _this_ is home now. The team loves you! _I_ love you!” He stopped short, seeming shocked at what had just come out of his own mouth. 

_Extra time with the people you love is the best gift of all._ Tony had said that, hadn’t he? But when? It was coming back slowly, but Steve was starting to remember; he hadn’t heard Peggy over the radio five minutes ago, he’d seen her a few months ago when Kang himself had interrupted his New Year’s plans. He grinned widely, and turned to face Kang.

“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t take gifts from dictators.” he quipped, slamming the shield into the ground by his feet. It bounced cleanly, sending the gun thing flying right into Thor’s waiting hands.

“Iron man, catch!” he exclaimed, tossing the tech to Tony before zooming over and knocking a shocked Kang right into Hulk’s waiting hands. The conqueror was out cold in minutes. 

“Take the belt off; the buttons control the time jumps!” said Nat, walking over to join the rest of the group. Thor unclipped the belt and pushed a button at random. The army vanished around them to the sound of cheers and applause from the civilians who had hovered around the sidelines throughout the battle.

Steve grinned triumphantly, and collapsed.  
__________________________________________________________________________

He came to in a room that seemed vaguely familiar, covered in futuristic technology and blinking blue lights.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, sleeping beauty!” Tony announced, walking over from where he’d been tapping away at what must have been his desk. The ray gun thing was sitting next to him, tied into the computer through a series of wires. “How are you feeling?”

“Still confused, half of me feels like I shouldn’t be here, and the other half is sure that this is exactly where I’m meant to be.”

“Well, in,--” Tony checked his watch “three minutes and twenty two seconds, after this recalibration finishes up, we should be able to fix that for you!”

“What do you mean?” Steve wasn’t sure he wanted anyone messing around in his head, but he felt a little better about it if it was Tony doing the messing.

“I re-programmed the ray gun to reverse its effects. I’m 90% sure this will put you back to normal.” He smiled reassuringly at Steve, but Steve could tell he was reassuring himself just as much.

“And the remaining ten percent?”

“...we fry your brain and leave you a vegetable.” Ah. Yikes. A guitar riff echoed through the room and Tony turned to shut off the alarm he’d set. “So Cap, moment of truth. What do you want to do?” Steve took in the hopeful expression on Tony’s face and knew the right decision was obvious.

“I trust you. Let’s get this show on the road.” Tony nodded, and picked up the gun.

“See you on the other side, Cap.” A flash of white washed over Steve, and then there was nothing at all.

__________________________________________________________________________

Steve woke up in Tony’s workshop, feeling like he’d been run over by a motorcade but happy all the same. _He remembered._

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Cap. How’re you holding up?” asked Tony. He was leaning back against his desk, staring right at the bed. Steve had a feeling he’d held that pose since he’d zapped him. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and sat up smoothly.

“Better than ever, Tony, thank you for everything.” Tony frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“You saved me from a past that had moved on without me, kept me from making one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and gave me back some of the most treasured memories I have of my favorite people. That’s everything to me.” Tony’s face flushed at the praise.

“It was nothing, just a little programming. Besides, you were the one who chose to trust me over Kang. Why’d you do that, by the way?” Tony asked casually, but Steve knew this would be one of the most important explanations he’d ever given. He paused as he tried to come up with the best way to respond to the loaded question, well aware of the fact that Tony grew tenser with every second of silence.

“...you said you loved me, out there on the battlefield. Did you mean it?” Tony’s blush grew deeper.

“Answering a question with a question, huh? Classy.” He paused, as though waiting for Steve to say something, but continued when no response was made. “Well yeah, I mean, the team thinks you’re pretty swell, and I really like having you around to keep me on track, and you’ve been a great friend to us all, so--”

“Tony, I know you meant it when you said the team loved me. I care about all of you too. But did you mean that last thing you said?” Tony visibly steeled himself before turning to face him. 

“Yeah, I did. I just...if you’d gone through that portal, I would have lost one of the most important people in my life to date. I couldn’t handle that, and my mouth put things together in a funny way in the moment but right after I said that I realized, yeah. Yeah, I do love you. I love the way you make me feel like the most important person in the room, even when everyone else is trying to bring me down. I love the way you smile at me specifically, love your company. I don’t do things half as well by myself as I do with you, and now that I’ve seen what it’s like to have you by my side I’d be absolutely devastated to see you go. So I know you probably don’t feel the same way but I really hope we can stay friends because I kinda need you Steve.” 

Steve felt like time around them had completely stopped. Tony had articulated his own feelings better than he ever could, and thanks to him he knew exactly what to do.

“That’s what made me realize I could trust you.” he said, feeling more certain than he had all day. He stood, and started to make his way towards Tony, who had turned away from him to anxiously fiddle with a few loose gadgets on his desk. “Kang never once called me by my name, but you made sure to use it as many times as you could. You made me feel like I was safe, like I was known. You always do that, you know. You see beautiful things in others that they themselves don’t recognize and bring them out full force. It’s one of the things I love most about you.” Tony whipped around to face Steve.

“What?” Steve smirked at his shocked expression.  
“You heard me; I love you too Shellhead.” A big grin was slowly spreading over Tony’s face, and Steve felt himself smiling brightly enough to match. He reached out to pull him into a hug, only to find that Tony had met him halfway. They clung to one another in the middle of the workshop, both trembling a little because _Steve remembered_ and _Tony was safe_ and _this was it this was it this was it_. Steve pulled Tony more tightly against his chest, staying locked in an embrace for several moments, just reassuring himself that they were safe and together. Even when they pulled away, he made sure not to go too far away, using the body heat to reassure himself. Given the way Tony was unconsciously drifting back towards him, he figured the two of them were as usual on the same page. Tony flicked his eyes down to his lips, and Steve smirked.

“Wanna take this a step further?” Tony gasped.

“Captain America? Kissing before the fourth date? _Scandalous_ , think of the children!”

“Captain America may be a paragon of virtue, but Steve Rogers knows that doesn’t make a man happy.” Tony moved in a little closer, putting their faces inches apart.

“Think you can handle all of me?” he asked, teasingly.

“Give me everything you’ve got.” Tony pressed his lips to Steve’s and suddenly nothing else mattered. _Yep,_ Steve thought as he deepened the kiss, _this is home._  
__________________________________________________________________________

“You’ve saved us from the evil control of our past Queen, and for that we thank you. Their greed nearly cost us one of the most priceless treasures in the universe, that which we guard most ardently—“ 

Steve zoned out at that point in the alien man? woman? being’s monologue as they continued to ramble and gesture emphatically with what appeared to be five tentacle-like limbs about whatever all-important artefact it was their cultures’ life duty to protect, still tired from fighting a _seven hour_ battle as he was. 

They’d been in it for the long haul this time, the longest they’d been fighting since the big Kang blowout almost a year ago (boy, was it neat how little and how much things had changed since that fateful day). They’d been fighting against—surprise, surprise—an alien hive-mind controlled by a malicious ruler bent on colonizing and “assimilating” the earth. The beings, once freed from their mindless enslavement of course, were actually quite kind and friendly all things considered. Sure, the way they only used plural pronouns even after the hive mind had broken down was a bit odd, and six arms seemed a bit excessive, but the thanks they were offering came few and far in between in the superhero business (it sometimes seemed to Steve that the world had managed to spawn significantly more entitled assholes in the time he was frozen).

“Thank you for your kind offer,” interrupted Tony. Steve resisted sending his boyfriend an embarrassingly grateful look, one that Sam and Clint had no reservations about apparently. “Is anyone here injured?” He looked around to see shaking head after shaking head—the battle was fairly pain-free even if it was lengthy. “No? Good, in that case we will gladly accompany you to your ship to see this, ahem, _indescribably beautiful_ treasure of yours.” 

Steve relished the opportunity to see Tony in what he called “diplomat mode.” His ability to make literally anyone feel heard and understood while in his presence was one of the first things Steve had come to love about him.

“Excellent! Please remain in your places. The tractor beam will pick up on your energy signatures and transport you to our vessel momentarily.” Steve could practically feel the spike in Tony’s mood, standing right next to him as he was; in all their years of fighting together this was the first time they would get the true, sci-fi alien experience he knew his boyfriend had been secretly craving since that first fight against the Chitauri long ago. The tractor beam materialized slowly around them, and sure enough, they were lifted almost gently from the ground and carried swiftly towards the waiting mouth of the alien mothership.

“HULK NOT THINK HE LIKE THIS!” cried the Hulk from somewhere below Steve. He could see why; Hulk had somehow flipped himself upside down during the voyage, which must have been jarring given that they were a good mile above the ground at this point.

“Please!” exclaimed Thor in response, “compared to travelling by Bifrost, this transport is quite soothingly slow!”

“Enough!” yelled Clint from where he was spinning somewhere above them all, “I’m trying not to get seasick and you’re _not helping!_ ” 

Nat punched him in the shoulder, sending him careening off somewhere to the side, where he hit the outer border of the tractor beam with a loud smack. Sam and Natasha burst into peals of laughter which only got stronger at the sight of the rather ineffective upside down death glare Clint was sending their way. 

Steve shot a fond look at his co-leader, who much to his delight had grabbed his hand during liftoff, making it seem as though they were just taking one of their regular flights around the city. The soft blue glow of the beam highlighted the contours of Tony’s face quite elegantly, and the whole thing felt rather intimate.

“Crazy kids,” he said to Tony in a low voice, “gonna give us grey hairs one of these days.”

“Please, Cap, you say that like I’m not halfway to rocking that silver fox look already.”

“Even if you were, you know I wouldn’t love you any less.” The soft, _adoring_ look Tony gave him at that had him melting a little, so he really couldn’t be blamed for acting on his urge to pull him in for a kiss. Steve loved being pressed up to the Iron Man suit like this, loved the guarantee that the love of his life was protected and secure, the tangible proof of the fact that Tony would always have his back the same way he had Tony’s. The quick peck he’d been aiming for deepened into a proper kiss as Tony ran his hand along Steve’s neck, pulling him in tighter.

“Ugh, Nat cover my eyes! They’re doing it again!” came Clint’s voice from somewhere above them.

“With all due respect, could you two knock it off till you can get a room? Besides, we’re almost there and I don’t think the aliens would appreciate you two ignoring them to make out,” Sam added. 

As much as Steve hated to admit it, the kid was right as usual. Still, he made sure to keep a tight hold on Tony’s hand after they separated. He figured it would be in their best interests to present the image of united front to the aliens, regardless of how benevolent they seemed now that their megalomaniac ruler was defeated. Tony squeezed Steve’s hand as they approached the mother ship’s entrance, half giving comfort, half seeking it out. Steve pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, and turned to put on his “Cap face” as Tony put it. 

Go time.

The tractor beam deposited the team onto the bridge of the ship, some more gracefully than others. Tony had activated his repulsors in advance, so he and Steve were fortunately able to stick an elegant landing. It wouldn’t have looked good for the leaders to present themselves to potential new allies with bloody noses or black eyes, after all. 

Moments later, another of the beings, this one dressed more along the lines of nobility than the others Steve had seen (as far as he could tell of course) strode into the room.

“Greetings, we are Krnah of the Perseid Empire.” Their voice was robotic, clearly fed through a translator like the one in that Star Trek show he and Tony were currently working on. On behalf of our people, we welcome you to our ship and thank you for your noble deeds performed this day. In gratitude, we now offer you a...how do you say it? Once in a lifetime opportunity. Please, follow us.” 

Krnah led them down a long, winding hallway to a much smaller room, with a mirrored wall directly opposite the group. Oddly enough their reflections were nowhere to be found. 

The alien leader moved to stand near its left side. “This is our most treasured possession, the name of which roughly translates in your language to ‘Portal of Dreams.’ Within its reflective surface, you will be able to see that which you seek most in your heart of hearts, and by pushing this button here—,” they gestured at a space towards the back of the mirror on the left side— “you will be transported to the alternate universe which most closely matches that which you desire and granted the opportunity to live the rest of your lives in peace. This is a privilege none but our most esteemed Saints have ever been granted in the past, but we offer it to you now as a symbol of the prosperous union we hope to forge with your people. Now, which of you would like to go first?” 

Silence. Steve and Tony glanced at one another for a mere second before turning back to the leader, decision made. As usual they were on the same page. 

“Krnah, we thank you again for this incredible offer. Would it be possible for us all to look simultaneously?” asked Tony graciously. Steve marvelled at his ability to remain polished while utterly dead on his feet. 

“Keying in the signatures of a group of this size simultaneously has never been attempted, but we see no reason why we could not try it now. We will relay your request to the control room.” Krnah made a series of chirping noises into what seemed to be a discrete comm embedded into one of their many wrists before turning back to the Avengers. “Your request has been granted, and you may all take a step forward to get a better view.” 

They all shuffled forward, doing their best to stay out of the way of everyone else. The surface of the mirror seemed to shimmer as they reached the optimal position, before fading into a reflection of the team, with a few notable additions. Steve saw Tony gasp lightly out of the corner of his eye.

“I can see the entire Avengers roster from the Battleworld incident, does anyone see anything different?” 

“Normally I’d make a comment about your ego, Stark, but same for me.” replied Clint, turning this way and that and making faces at his reflection to assess the damage done to his face during the battle.

“GOT SAME THING ON THIS END, ” shouted Hulk from the back.

“Well, that settles it,” said Tony, “Krnah, do you know what happened?” The alien’s expression was quite unreadable, but their tentacles seemed like they were moving more quickly than they had before.

“We apologize, but this is something our engineers have never encountered before. Please give us a chance to confer with the control room once more.” More chirping followed, this time sounding distinctly agitated. Steve hoped someone wasn’t going to end up fired on their behalf. “We have agreed that it’s possible that the number of people attempting to use the Portal might have overloaded the system. Would it be possible to try again with only one person?” Steve stepped forward. 

“You can use me as your guinea pig. I trust you and your engineers, but I don’t want anyone else putting themselves in danger since we’re in uncharted territory.” 

Tony made a move to step forward, but Thor held him back, muttering reassurances that, while spoken quietly enough to be indiscernible to the average ear, registered quite clearly to Steve’s.

“Nay, let him proceed. The Captain’s gesture has been received most positively by our hosts.” Krnah indeed looked to be smiling slightly with their eyes.

“Excellent!” the alien cried, tangling two of their tentacles together in a motion that might have been the equivalent to a human clap. “Captain, was it? Please proceed to position yourself in front of the Portal. The others’ signatures will be removed and the resulting vision will be entirely your own desires.” 

Steve shut his eyes and let out a slow breath. Visions of the past danced across his memory: Bucky and the Commandos howling with laughter, Howard singed with soot after testing an invention gone wrong, Peggy smiling at him, her gorgeous brown eyes twinkling. Would they appear in the Portal? Steve, much to his surprise, was much less enthusiastic about the idea than he would have been mere weeks ago.

“Steve, honey? What do you see?” Tony’s voice pulled him out of his reverie, and he looked up to face the music, so to speak. Much to his surprise, the vision before him was exactly the same as before.

“Nothing changed, love. It’s still just us standing there.” Krnah made a sound somewhere between a cough and a gasp.

“Incredible! It seems the Portal was unable to show you your desire because your entire group possesses all that they desire already! This is truly remarkable; what noble and selfless creatures you are!” Gasps filled the small room.

“Ugh, you guys are so sappy, please stop, I’m allergic,” remarked Natasha, deadpan as Clint made gagging noises. Excited chatter filled the remaining silence, but Steve made his way over to a quiet Thor rather than join in on the theorizing and in Sam’s case, hugging. 

“What’s wrong, big guy? I thought you of all people would be overjoyed about this?” Thor smiled, but it was tinged with a deep melancholy. 

“Do you see anyone standing between Ms. Marvel and my beloved Jane in your reflection?” Steve turned to take a closer look, eyes widening in shock as he took in the previously overlooked detail. 

“Loki!” Thor’s smile widened at that.

“It heartens me to see that at least one of my shield-brothers feels the same as I do about my family.” At that, Thor turned back to the Portal contemplatively, decisively ending the conversation. 

Steve’s gaze floated back to the Portal to try and catch every other detail he might have missed. He caught a glint of gold in the corner of his eye and gasped lightly. “Krnah, I’m so sorry, but you’re wrong. I don’t have everything I wanted, and I’m going to fix that now if that’s alright with you.” 

In the mirror, Tony’s expression morphed into one of complete heartbreak for a moment, before schooling itself into something more diplomatically blank. Steve’s heart clenched, but he knew the decision he was making was the right one. Krnah blinked in surprise.

“Of course, Captain. Would you like to approach the button now?” Steve shook his head.

“No need.”

“Cap, don’t be an idiot, you need to push that to get what you see,” said Tony, a touch of melancholy to his voice that to the untrained ear would be unnoticeable. Steve tried holding back a grin, but knew he’d failed as Tony looked at him, perplexed. He turned to face him head on.

“I could, but I’m hoping I can get it like this instead.” Steve swore he heard a pin drop as he dropped to one knee. “Tony, when SHIELD found me in the ice years ago, I can honestly say that I couldn’t picture the way my life would look after the Battle of New York. For once, I had no plans, not even any ideas. I was going through the motions, half caught in a past life that had moved on without me. But after the mess with Red Skull, you gave me a team and a purpose, a place in your tower and in your life. You gave me more than a future; you gave me a home. I hope you’ll take it a little further and give me your hand in marriage. I promise to do my best to spend the rest of my life giving back.” Steve couldn’t quite bring himself to meet Tony’s eyes, try as he might, but the sound of sniffles pulled his gaze upward to Tony’s teary face. 

“Steve, honey, darling, light of my life, how could you think that you haven’t already given me everything, with interest? As much as I love this entire dysfunctional family, it was you who gave me a shoulder to lean on, a sounding off which to bounce my best and worst ideas, and most importantly, the certainty that I had someone in my life who wouldn’t leave, even if we disagreed. God, I love you.” He half-collapsed, half-knelt to meet Steve where he was and kissed him firmly to the sound of wild applause from the team and hooting from Clint’s corner of the room. 

As much as Steve wanted to stay in this moment forever, he pulled back.“So was that a yes?” 

Tony rolled his eyes, but the bright grin on his face betrayed his joy. “I honestly have no idea how you’d interpret that as a no.” Steve dove right back into kissing his fiancé (fiancé!), surrounded by the family he’d found and made, feeling for once like he was exactly where he should be. 

“...you do realize you two got engaged on a foreign spaceship?” interrupted Sam, exasperated but fond. Steve and Tony pulled back and stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Well, that’s certainly going to be a story for the rest of the gang. You’re never gonna let us live this down, are you?” 

“Nope!” laughed Natasha. “We’re holding this over your heads for the rest of our lives.” A quiet voice interjected from the left hand side of the room. 

“We are not certain what the appropriate response should be, but we believe that the proper statement is...congratulations?” hedged Krnah hesitantly. Tony stood, offering Steve a hand, and once he was settled aimed a pleasant smile at their perplexed host. 

“Thank you, those well wishes were exactly right. Allow us to repay your hospitality by offering you an invitation to _our_ home. Engagements, at least on earth, are always something to celebrate.” Steve had the distinct impression that Krnah would be smiling had he had the mouth bits to do so.

“We will gladly accept your invitation. To what coordinates should we beam down, and would you be opposed to us bringing our small security entourage? Just as a formality, of course.” 

Tony immediately dove into negotiating logistics with Krnah, the rest of the team chiming in from time to time as they tried to figure out exactly how many guests to expect (“We shall arrive as five.” “So that’s five people including you?” “No, we shall arrive as five.” “Uh…”) Steve resigned himself to having aliens at his engagement party. _Yep_ , he thought, _this is home._

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bonus gift for the amazing Neverever! Inspiration struck after reading your first prompt and I just kinda rolled with it. It was kinda fun to play around in the world of AA, everything is really soft and fluffy here. For the record, for the purposes of this fic I ran with my headcanon that the New Year's episode happens somewhere in the season 2 or 3 timeline, even though it aired season 4. I hope you like it!
> 
> Come hang out with me at captainmistyknight.tumblr.com friends!


End file.
